Chile: Nueva Mayoría Setback Changes Political Map

Santiago de Chile, Oct 24 (Prensa Latina) Long and sorrowful faces surrounded the closure of the municipal elections for the Chilean government coalition Nueva Mayoria, which lost against the right wing and the independents.

We must listen to this. The warning message given to us is an alert from which we must learn, said the president of the Republic, Michelle Bachelet.

On the other hand, the right wing group Chile Vamos celebrated the triumph of its candidate Felipe Alessandri against the outgoing mayor, Carolina Toha, of the Party for Democracy and very close to the head of state. Chileans have expressed their desire for a change; a change for a better country Chile said the former president Sebastian Pinera, an imminent presidential candidate for 2017.

The official abstention rate ranges from 70 to 80 percent, added to the obvious protest vote to the government coalition.

The right wing retained Las Condes, Vitacura and Providencia, in addition to Viña del Mar and Temuco.

The Nueva Mayoría preserves the city of Concepcion, the country's second, while the rightists lose Valparaiso, now in the hands of a candidate of the leftist grouping Revolución Democrática.

In addition to the voluntary abstention, a serious error in the voter register caused that nearly half a million Chileans had difficulties to exercise their right to vote since they appeared registered in different addresses to their real ones.

In the port city of Valparaiso there was perhaps one of the biggest surprises of the day, with the success of the independent Jorge Esteban Sharp, close to Revolución Democrática.

Just over 14 million Chileans were called to the polls on Sunday to elect mayors and councilors in 346 communities of the country among 14,454 candidates, according to official reports.